What they're saying about Delphi

"This is a story about globalization and the increasingly unsustainable expense of traditional business health and pension benefits in the U.S. But it is also about an industry -- and here management and unions share the blame -- that allowed its cost structure to grow out of all proportion to its productivity, making a retrenchment inevitable."

--The Wall Street Journal editorial, Oct. 12

"Since 1948, the UAW and GM, Ford and Chrysler have crafted contracts that turned the companies into mini-welfare states, providing above-average hourly wages, rich fringe benefits and strong job security. With limited competition, companies could pass along common labor costs to consumers and compete on styling and performance. No more. The protected market has given way to imports and foreign firms with non-unionized U.S. plants."

-- Robert Samuelson in The Washington Post, Oct. 19

"With industry-wide auto contract talks coming in 2007, it is no exaggeration to say that a standard of living is on the line in Delphi's proposal to reduce its $27-an-hour union wages to $9.50-$10.50. Yes, you can live on that. But it's a big comedown from the standards established by the labor movement over the past 75 years."